


Anpanman and the Baikin Egg

by chrismouse



Category: Soreike! Anpanman
Genre: Adoption, Found Family, M/M, Post-Canon, baikinman has kind of given up villainy after befriending anpanman, working through complicated feelings about your childhood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-06-28 18:28:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19818028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chrismouse/pseuds/chrismouse
Summary: Anpanman and Baikinman find an egg that belongs to Baikinman’s species. They try to figure out what they’ll do when it hatches.





	1. Chapter 1

It was a horribly hot day so Anpanman and Baikinman decided to have a picnic on shady Baikin Island. Anpanman brought along some rolls Uncle Jam and Butterko had made the day before, and Baikinman surprised him with a basket of tomatoes.

“Where did you get these?” Anpanman asked. He knew Baikinman wasn’t as likely to steal things as he’d been back when they were enemies, so his question came from genuine curiosity.

“I’ll tell you later! Hahihuheho!” said Baikinman, holding one out to him.

Anpanman didn’t have to or like to eat, mostly, but it was a hot day, and after all, vegetables were a good source of water. So he carefully cut his tomato into slices before taking a bite. 

Baikinman decided to bite straight into his like an apple, and predictably sprayed tomato juice all over Anpanman. Anpanman didn’t really mind, though- he was having a good time. They carried on like that for a while, chatting and enjoying the break from the sun.

All of a sudden, lightning flashed and lit up the sky! After a few seconds, thunder rumbled too.

“Ah!” said Anpanman. “We’d better get somewhere safe.”

“We’ll be fine! A little lightning never hurt anyone!”

Anpanman looked up at the sky and frowned. 

“Maybe not, but look at those storm clouds! It looks like they’re about to burst!”

Indeed, the looming gray clouds were beginning to sprinkle down little raindrops, proving his point.

“Darn!” Baikinman said, kicking a pebble. “I guess we’ll have to have the rest of the picnic in the ship. What a pain!”

“It’s a good thing you brought it, though,” Anpanman said encouragingly. “Being caught in the rain wouldn’t be good for either of us!”

Baikinman smiled. “Well, let’s get the heck in there before we get all washed up!”

Anpanman picked Baikinman up and began to fly to Baikinman’s UFO when a loud noise made them both look up at the sky. It wasn’t thunder this time, but a sort of whooshing, whirring noise.

“What’s that?” Anpanman had slowed his flight, even though the raindrops were coming down faster. 

Baikinman didn’t answer. He knew that sound from somewhere, but where? As he thought, a big raindrop landed on his nose, and he shook it off. “Who cares! We gotta get out of the rain!”

As soon as they had shut the door to the UFO, the rain became a downpour. Lightning flashed above and thunder boomed, but the whir hadn’t stopped. In fact, it seemed to be getting louder.

Anpanman seemed to have lost interest in the picnic and was looking out at the sky with concern. Meanwhile, Baikinman was finishing off the rolls, not really caring about the noise.

“You don’t have to worry about the storm,” he told Anpanman. “This thing has two built-in lightning rods!”

“It’s not that I’m worried about,” Anpanman replied. “It’s-“

Just then, he was cut off by an object bursting through the clouds. It was hard to see through the rain, but it was round, and it glowed light blue. As it flew towards the earth, a path of the same color trailed behind it. 

Anpanman gasped.

“An egg!” Baikinman had looked up and seen it too.

“What?” cried Anpanman. “It’s going to hit the ground!” He grabbed the handle of the door, but felt a tug on his cape.

“Stop! It’s pouring out there, you can’t!”

“It’ll break if I don’t!” Anpanman pulled his cape away and flew out into the storm.

Baikinman was right- the rain pelted down in torrents, but Anpanman had no thoughts in his mind for anything but the egg. The rain blurred his vision. He could hear Baikinman shouting something behind him. The egg continued to fall, and he wasn’t sure if he was going to make it-

And suddenly, he had caught it.

“Anpanmaaaaan!” Baikinman screamed behind him. Anpanman was jolted back into the moment. As he realized the rain had soaked his head, he became unable to float and landed on the ground with a bump. He felt weak and dizzy. Looking down at the egg, he wondered if he would be able to get back to the ship.

“Hey! Get in!”

Baikinman had flown his UFO over to him, and was holding out his hand while covering Anpanman from getting wetter. Anpanman gratefully took it, and they flew off to Uncle Jam’s bakery.


	2. Chapter 2

When Anpanman had a fresh head, he was finally able to get a good look at the egg. It was a little smaller than a watermelon, and was mostly blue with green spots. It had stopped glowing, probably while they were in the UFO.

“So it’s a Baikin egg?” Butterko asked Baikinman.

“Yes, I’m sure of it,” he said. “But I’ve never seen one this small before...”

“Maybe it’s a baby germ,” said Uncle Jam.

“You think?!” Baikinman cried out, seeming surprised. “What are we going to do with a baby?”

Butterko and Uncle Jam exchanged looks.

“We took care of Anpanman when he was a baby,” Butterko pointed out. “If we needed to, we could help out with this one when it hatches.”

“I wonder when it will hatch,” said Uncle Jam, who looked more hesitant than Butterko.

“How should I know?” Baikinman said, a little snappily.

“Baikinman...” said Anpanman, finally speaking. “Why don’t we ask Dokinchan, or Baikinsennin? One of them should know about eggs.”

Baikinman looked at the egg, then nodded. “Should we bring it?”

“It couldn’t hurt,” said Anpanman. “I’ll keep it nice and warm.”

So they flew off to the mountain where Baikinsennin lived, because it was probably still stormy on Baikin Island and Baikinman didn’t want to fly through that again.

“Ah, Baikinman,” said the old germ when they came up to him. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Hello, Anpanman.” His eyes traveled to the egg in Anpanman’s arms, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. “My goodness! I had no idea you two were expecting!”

“What?!” Baikinman said. “We found this egg! It isn’t ours!”

“I see,” Baikinsennin said.

“How would that even work,” mumbled Baikinman, but Baikinsennin wasn’t paying attention. He had walked over to Anpanman and was looking at the egg curiously.

“Eggs don’t usually come to other planets so early before hatching,” he remarked. “It looks as though it will hatch in a few days, a week perhaps.”

“A week? That’s hardly any time at all!” Baikinman protested.

“Usually Baikin eggs sent to other planets hatch almost immediately,” Baikinsennin said. “This amount of time between arrival and hatching is unusual. I would think you’d be relieved that you have some time to prepare.”

Baikinman’s eyes were narrowed, and his hands were balled into fists. Anpanman, concerned, shifted the egg to one arm and gently placed his other hand on Baikinman’s shoulder. 

“Hmph!” said Baikinman. “We’ll just see about that. Goodbye!”

And with that, he turned around and went back to the UFO, Anpanman flying after him after hastily thanking Baikinsennin.


	3. Chapter 3

They arrived back at the bakery only to hear Currypanman‘s loud voice before they even walked through the door.

“- can’t be good for the products!” Currypanman went on as they came in, apparently not seeing them. “I know you want the best for it after it hatches, but you have to consider yourselves too!”

Shokupanman and Melonpanna were in the room too. It seemed like a family meeting had been called while they were out.

“Baikinman is here almost every day,” Butterko pointed out. “He may be a germ, but he doesn’t do any harm to the bread just being here. Except maybe for eating a lot of it.”

“Baikinman’s a grown man, but a baby might not know any better-“

“Know any better than what?” Baikinman cut in.

Everybody turned around, surprised to see them.

“Well,” said Shokupanman, “we were just discussing what we were going to do when the egg hatched.”

“Is that it?” Melonpanna peered at the egg, which Anpanman was still holding. “Wow! It’s so big!”

Anpanman smiled, but Baikinman seemed to be focused on what Currypanman had said.

“So what you’re saying is, you’re not going to take care of the baby?”

The breads, minus Anpanman, and Butterko avoided his gaze. Finally, Uncle Jam spoke up.

“We aren’t making any decisions just yet, Baikinman. After all, it’s only been a few hours since we found out this baby was going to hatch out of this egg.”

“Well, it’s not as though we’re pressed for time,” Baikinman said sarcastically. “This thing hatches in a week!”

Everyone made various noises of surprise.

“So pardon me if I’m a little on edge!”

“We all are, not just you,” said Currypanman. 

Baikinman scowled.

“It’s just that, we don’t know how to take care of a baby germ,” said Butterko.

“What? And just because I’m a germ I do? God, I thought you guys were- just-“ He let out a frustrated little growl. “I’m going out.”

The others watched as Baikinman stormed out the door, slamming it behind him.

“I didn’t mean to upset him,” Butterko said, looking a little shaken.

“It’s not your fault, Butterko,” said Uncle Jam as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Dealing with change can be harder for some people than others.”

“Should we go look for him?” asked Shokupanman.

“It might be a better idea to let him have a little time to cool off.”

And so they waited. The other breads took turns coming over to look at the egg, which they all seemed to find pretty interesting. Currypanman even reached out to touch it, and seemed disappointed when it felt like any other egg.

However, Anpanman was thinking about what Baikinman had said and how upset he’d been, and the more he thought about it the more he wanted to go find him.

“Would you mind looking after the egg for a bit?” he asked Uncle Jam. “I’d take it with me, but I don’t think seeing it would be good for Baikinman’s mood.”

“Go ahead,” Uncle Jam replied, and Anpanman flew off to search for Baikinman.


	4. Chapter 4

It didn’t take too long for Anpanman to find Baikinman. He was sitting at the edge of a path that went through the woods, looking part sulky and part deep in thought.

“Hi,” said Anpanman softly, and Baikinman looked up in surprise. 

“Hi. Are you going to try and talk to me?”

“Not if you don’t want me to.”

Baikinman nodded. “I was going to walk down the trail alone and think, but I... wouldn’t mind company. Quiet company.”

Anpanman offered a smile, which Baikinman didn’t return, but he brushed his hand against Anpanman’s to show he appreciated it.

The two of them walked for a while. Neither said a word, but by the time they reached a waterfall Anpanman had never seen before, they were holding each other’s hands. The cool spray from the waterfall was enough to be refreshing, but not so much that Anpanman’s head would get soggy. They watched the water splash over the rocks until Baikinman broke the silence.

“I thought it might be cooler in the shade, but I still felt gross til we got up here,” he said. “I guess I’ll have to show you that place on a cooler day.”

“You were taking me somewhere?”

“I mean, it’s along this path, so I figured I might as well. But like I said, it’s super hot today.”

They sat down on a flat rock beside the waterfall. Baikinman leaned on Anpanman, who decided to speak up.

“Are you feeling okay? You kind of stormed off a while ago, and I wanted to make sure that everything was all right.”

Baikinman was quiet for a bit, rubbing his thumb against Anpanman’s palm. He nodded, then shook his head. “I don’t know, it’s just... it’s a lot.”

“I understand. To be honest, all that discussion in the bakery was starting to make me kind of anxious,” Anpanman said. “I’m sorry. I would have spoken up, but I was getting overwhelmed and I guess I just shut down.”

Baikinman put his hand on Anpanman’s shoulder. “You don’t have to take responsibility for what I do! I know you want what’s best for me, but I’d rather have you focus on what you need for yourself first. And besides,” he went on, “I don’t think I handled the situation that badly on my own.”

“That’s true!” said Anpanman. “When you got upset, you left the situation to cool down. You’ve been a lot better at that lately!”

Baikinman smiled, but he still looked like something was bothering him.

“Anpanman... do you remember what Currypanman said about the bakery? How it might not be a good idea to keep a baby germ there? The thing is, I have no idea how a baby germ is supposed to be.”

Baikinman swallowed, but continued, voice shaking a bit.

“I didn’t- I never had anyone to look after me like you did. You know that.”

His voice was rather choked up now. Anpanman placed his hand on his shoulder to steady him.

“I can’t even be a good father to a robot. How do I know I’m not gonna mess this up, too? What if the kid grows up and their life sucks because of something I did?” He broke off into a sob, but tried to stifle it.

Anpanman had heard it anyway. He held out his arms, offering comfort. Baikinman accepted by holding onto him and crying quietly into his chest. Anpanman rubbed his back below his wings and just listened.

It had been a while- Baikinman’s sobs turned to sniffles, tears were dried- when Anpanman spoke up again.

“I can’t say I know exactly how you feel, lovebug, but I’m nervous about this, too. It’s something I’ve never done before, and it’s all happening so fast.”

He gave Baikinman’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“We aren’t going to have to do it alone. We have each other and our friends, and I think if we work together, well... everything will turn out just fine.”

Baikinman flapped his wings a bit, and it was obvious his mood was improving.

“I still have a lot of stuff on my mind,” he told Anpanman. “But for now, could you do me a favor?”

“Of course, what is it?”

Baikinman took a deep breath.

“I want to go visit Frankenrobo.” 

“Frankenrobokun?” Anpanman was surprised. 

Baikinman was on better terms with his robot “son” than he’d been before, but he still seemed wary of him. This was probably because whenever the little robot touched someone, they’d get an awful electric shock- and he loved to hug his Papa, Baikinman. They didn’t see each other often, as Frankenrobo lived with Toudaiman the lighthouse and provided power for his light. With all this in mind, Anpanman was a little confused.

“Would you fly me there?”

“That wouldn’t be a problem.” Anpanman liked Frankenrobo. He was a sweet and friendly kid. “Should I drop you off, or-?”

“Actually, could you come with me? I’ve been thinking about telling him we’re- that you’re my- that we’re together, for a while.” Baikinman was blushing.

Anpanman smiled. “It would be my pleasure.”


	5. Chapter 5

As they approached the coast where Frankenrobo lived, Anpanman called out to Toudaiman. 

“Toudaiman! Good to see you!”

“Hello, Anpanman!” said Toudaiman cheerfully. He noticed Baikinman and said with a bit less enthusiasm, “Hello, Baikinman.”

Baikinman didn’t mind. People he’d caused trouble for in the past didn’t usually warm up to him right away, and Toudaiman had pretty much been a foster father to Baikinman’s little robot. He had a quick, upsetting thought that the lighthouse might resent him, but he pushed it out of his mind.

“Is Frankenrobokun here?” Anpanman asked.

“He’s playing downstairs. Do you want me to call him up?”

“That’d be great, we have something to tell him.”

Toudaiman called to Frankenrobo, who hurried upstairs and immediately gasped in delight upon seeing Baikinman.

“Papa!” he shouted, running towards him with his arms outstretched. Baikinman squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for a painful electric shock, but it never came. He opened one eye and sure enough, Toudaiman was gently blocking Frankenrobo from getting close enough to hug him. The shock wasn’t affecting him, as he was a big lighthouse and well-insulated against that sort of thing.

“Frankenrobokun,” he said, “rememberer what we talked about? Your shocks can hurt people when you touch them, even if you don’t mean to.”

Frankenrobo hung his head. “Sorry, Papa.”

Baikinman felt a little pang in his heart. It wasn’t Frankenrobo’s fault, and he would have given him a reassuring pat if it didn’t mean getting his antennae fried. As it was, though, he tried to make up for it by giving him an encouraging smile. Frankenrobo smiled back.

“Papa, I missed you! And you too, Anpanman,” he said, acknowledging his superhero friend. “Why are you here together?” He gasped. “Did your UFO break down, and he had to fly you over? I can try and jump start it! No, wait... how would they get it here if it’s broken...”

“My UFO is fine,” Baikinman said, suddenly looking a little fidgety. “We, um... we have something to tell you.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” said Toudaiman, “but if this is private and you’d feel more comfortable somewhere else, I won’t be offended.”

“That’s all right,” Anpanman said. “It’s not like it’s a secret. Is that okay?” he asked, turning to Baikinman. 

“It’s fine. Anyway, Frankenrobo...” Baikinman tried to think of the right words. “Anpanman and I are... together now.”

“Together?” Frankenrobo looked confused.

Baikinman nodded. “We live together, and I love him. And he loves me.”

Frankenrobo looked like he understood, but he still had an odd expression on his face. “So, you love each other like a mama and papa?”

“Right, except there are two papas.”

Frankenrobo’s eyes lit up. “So, Anpanman can be my papa now too?!”

“Would you like that?” Anpanman asked.

Frankenrobo looked like he was about to burst with excitement. “YES!!! I LOVE YOU! BOTH OF YOU!” And before Toudaiman could stop him, he had run forward and pulled the two of them into a hug. Predictably, this ended with all three of them getting zapped, but everyone was so happy that they hardly cared.

“Congratulations, you two,” Toudaiman said, looking somewhat surprised but pleased.

Baikinman smiled in relief that it had gone so well, then turned to Frankenrobo. “Want to walk together?”

Frankenrobo’s eyes sparkled. “You mean it, Papa?”

“Sure, just us.”

He nodded enthusiastically, and they left Toudaiman and Anpanman to talk alone.

“So this is kinda sudden,” said Baikinman, “but since I’m here anyway I thought I’d tell you. This morning Anpanman and I found an egg.”

Frankenrobo looked at him blankly. “Why is an egg so important? You see those all the time when you cook.”

“No, no. It was an egg like the kind I hatched out of when I was a baby.”

“Oh! That makes more sense.” Frankenrobo stopped walking. “So... what are you gonna do with it?”

“We’re pretty sure we’re going to keep it and look after the baby when it hatches.” He sighed. “I’m nervous. I don’t know a lot about babies and I’m not the best dad...”

Frankenrobo gasped. “Don’t say that, Papa! You’re the best Papa I’ve ever had!”

Baikinman decided not to point out he was also the only one he’d had before ten minutes ago. He managed a smile.

“Frankenrobo... what if I came to see you more often? Would you like that?”

The little robot shouted “YES!” so loudly Baikinman almost fell over. “You’d come visit me and play with me? And I could play my guitar for you? Would Anpanman come? What about the baby when it hatches?”

Baikinman’s head was spinning with all the questions. “Wait a minute! Let’s sit and figure all this out.”

So they sat on a rock, and Baikinman explained.

“Frankenrobo, I was thinking about the time you were low on extra electricity, and I thought to myself, what if I could make you an upgrade so you could let go of energy when you made the choice? You wouldn’t shock people whenever you touched them anymore, but you wouldn’t need to stop helping Toudaiman either.”

Frankenrobo hesitated, then nodded. “I could give you a hug.”

“You could! And when your brother or sister hatches, you could hold them.”

Realization dawned on Frankenrobo’s face. “I’m... gonna be a big brother!!!”

He started to jump up and down in happiness, and accidentally jumped on Baikinman’s foot.

“AAAUGH,” shouted Baikinman. He was able to shake it off, though, when he saw how happy Frankenrobo was.

They walked back to where Toudaiman stood. Baikinman and Anpanman stayed to visit a bit longer, until Anpanman pointed out that Uncle Jam had been egg-sitting for a while and it was probably time they get back. So they said their goodbyes, with Baikinman promising to come back soon, and flew back to the bakery.

The moment they arrived, though, they were met with two familiar- and rather confused looking- faces. Anpanman touched down, lowering Baikinman, onto the ground, and their friends ran over.

“YOU FOUND AN EGG?!” Dokinchan shouted.

“And you didn’t tell us?!” Horrorman chimed in.

Anpanman gave them a sheepish smile, and Baikinman let out a little sigh.

“Well, the good thing about having to explain something over and over is that you get used to it real quick.”


End file.
